'Battlestar Galactica' star cast in Sky firefighter drama

Jamie Bamber had to put out plenty of metaphorical fires as Apollo on SyFy's "Battlestar Galactica," from internal political strife to direct conflicts with those dastardly frakkin' Cylons.

Now it appears Bamber will be fighting fire a little more literally, joining the cast of the upcoming Sky firefighter drama "The Smoke." The actor will take on the lead role in the series that will revolve around the lives of a London firefighter crew, joining the previously cast Rhashan Stone ("Strike Back"), Pippa Bennett-Warner ("Come Fly With Me"), and Taron Egerton ("Inspector Lewis").

The series, from "Skins" writer Lucy Kirkwood, was picked up by the UK cable giant in June 2012, and is slated to begin production soon for an early 2014 premiere.

"We wanted to bring a new, modern view of heroism to Sky1 HD - The Smoke was a perfect fit," said Sky's head of drama Anne Mensah. "It has all the huge-scale action and adrenaline that a show about fire can bring to the screen, but... there is also a beautiful depth and complexity to the characterisation. This is a show that asks real questions about what it means to be a man in today's world."

While Bamber is perhaps best known for his work on the excellent SyFy series, he has most recently made his mark on the "Law & Order: UK" series as well as the David E. Kelley TNT medical drama "Monday Mornings."